Mayor Announces Citizens Serving on Amp Advisory Committee

4/9/2014

First Meeting Will be Held on April 29

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mayor Karl Dean today announced the members of the Amp Citizens Advisory Committee. The first meeting is scheduled to take place on April 29 at noon at the Main Library’s conference center downtown.

“This Advisory Committee brings to the table varying viewpoints, and that was the goal we set out to achieve,” Mayor Dean said. “I want to thank the local and state representatives who helped us appoint people who live or work near the route to serve on the committee, and I look forward to hearing the Committee’s recommendations on how to make this vital transit project work for Nashville.”

In addition to appointments being made by State Representatives, State Senators and Metro Council Members whose districts sit along the route, Mayor Dean appointed several Committee members who represent constituencies impacted by the project, including people with disabilities, the aging population and large employers.

Mayor Dean appointed Bert Mathews, of the Mathews Company and Colliers International, to serve as chairman of the Advisory Committee. House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) appointed attorney and West Nashville resident Dianne Neal and businessman Lee Beaman.

Subsequent to the April 29 meeting, the Committee will meet the last Tuesday of every month.

The Amp Citizens Advisory Committee was formed based on geographic and stakeholder diversity across the route. It is a nonpartisan, advisory body that will provide regular feedback and recommendations to the Amp engineers at Nashville MTA throughout the Final Design phase of the project. It will also serve as a vehicle for MTA to share information on a more regular basis about the Amp design with the community that each member represents.

The Committee includes merchants, property owners, neighborhood representatives, business leaders and other stakeholders interested in improving mass transit options in Nashville, both along the route and throughout the greater Nashville region.

Members of the Amp Citizens Advisory Committee include:

CHAIR: Bert Mathews, The Mathews Company and Colliers International, and West Nashville resident

Tina Banks, General Manager, Mapco Store 1033 on Main Street in East Nashville

Joe Barker, MarketStreet Enterprises and developer in the Gulch

Lee Beaman, Beaman Automotive

Arnett Bodenhamer, Retired Command Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army and North Nashville business owner (Arnett & Associates)

Cliff Lippard, Public Policy Researcher/Deputy Executive Director, Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, State of Tennessee; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University; and member of Transit Now

Dianne Neal, Attorney; Instructor of Law; and West Nashville resident

David Plummer, Architect, Centric Architecture and Hillsboro/West End resident

The Committee will include ex-officio members representing Tennessee Department of Transportation, Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, Nashville MTA, Metro Public Works and Metro Planning Department.